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Although Elijah and I love to travel together, this trip to Maui was for girls only! A close friend of mine had time off from work and has a huge fascination with whales. So I convinced her to go on a spontaneous trip to Maui to go whale watching! I had a free night reward with my Hilton Honors Amex, and we were able to stay at the Waldorf Astoria Grand Wailea in Maui for only $65. The room rate and resort fee were covered by the free night reward, so we only had to pay for valet. The free night covers a standard room rate, but we ended up being upgraded to a double ocean-view room! This is a steal compared to the regular room rate which can sometimes be upwards of $1,000! In this hotel review, I will be breaking down our stay at the Waldorf Astoria Grand Wailea to help you determine if a stay is Worth Your Wallet.
Getting To The Waldorf Astoria Grand Wailea Maui:
The Grand Wailea resort is about a 30-minute (16-mile) drive from Kahului Airport (OGG). The hotel unfortunately does not offer any sort of complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport, but there are a few ways to get there on your own. There are plenty of taxis/rideshare available on the island and we have always been able to find one near the airport! However, for this stay, we knew we would be doing a lot of driving since we had a few activities booked around the island, so we decided to rent a car. If you do not want to drive yourself and are uncomfortable with taxi/ride-share there are also paid group shuttle services that will take you to and from the airport to your hotel.
The rental car facility at the Kahului Airport is one of the easiest I have experienced! We exited security, walked right across the street to a bus stop, and took a fast shuttle bus to the car lot. Everything was clearly labeled, and so easy to follow. We were able to quickly get our car and head to the hotel!
For those who do not like dealing with rental car pickup and drop-off at the airport, the Grand Wailea does have an on-site rental car service via Enterprise! You can pick them up and drop them off at the hotel.
Check-in at the Grand Wailea:
There is so much to process as you walk to the front desk to check in; huge artworks and sculptures, ocean views, and so many plants and flowers! We were able to see whales within minutes of arriving at the hotel. While talking with the front desk staff we saw whales spouting water in the distance. It was one of the craziest views I have seen behind a check-in desk! The staff at check-in were friendly and kind, making the experience even better.
The standard check-in time for the Waldorf Astoria Grand Wailea Maui is 4:00 PM. However, we were able to check in a little earlier around 3:30 PM which was great after a long day of travel! We were both given beautiful pink flower leis at check-in which made for a perfect start to our luxury girls' getaway!
Room Details:
We booked a standard king room since that was all that was available for the free night reward, but we were able to get a double room at check-in, and got upgraded to an ocean view on top of that! We did not have to pay anything for the room, and only had to pay the $65 valet fee! So our entire stay at the Grand Wailea only cost us $65!
Our room was on the chapel side of the hotel and was a little bit of a walk to the pools and lobby. We were right above a large koi pond with lots of fish and turtles and had amazing views of the chapel and the ocean behind it.
The large lanai (patio) was our favorite aspect of the room! It overlooked the breathtaking property, and gave us a front-row seat to watch the turtles fight in the koi pond! Seriously, we watched two turtles slap boxes right outside of our patio! We could also see large koi swimming through the colorful vegetation in the pond. The furniture on the patio was comfortable, and the entertainment was hard to beat!
Our room was large and had a nice seating area, two full-sized beds, and a spacious bathroom with a shower and soaking tub. The provided toiletries were nice and we both enjoyed them after a long day at the pool! The room also had complimentary robes slippers, and a Nespresso machine to enjoy.
Property:
The Grand Wailea property is massive. There are multiple pools, restaurants, shops, and so many rooms! It was easy for us to get lost trying to find our way back from the pools to our room the first few times! They had many different things to do, and we spent all day trying to do everything but could not!
The property has so many pools and water activities to do it kept us busy for hours! They have two huge water slides, one small one, a lazy river, a rope swing, waterfalls, caves, hot tubs, and a swim-up bar. Some of the pool activities close early in the evening around 4:00 PM- 5:00 PM, but the pools stayed open until 10:00 PM.
The swim-up bar was a fun addition to the pool area, it is an adult-only cave area with a bar and some small swim-up booths. We enjoyed being able to eat and drink without having to get out of the water. It was a little pricey, but it was a fun experience!
The property boasts a large fitness center that is open 24 hours along with multiple fitness classes including yoga and cycle classes. You can sign up online for free, but you must be registered to attend! Sadly we were not able to make it to one of the classes during our stay, but let us know below if any of you have, and if you liked it!
There are a few other amenities we were unable to try during our short visits like the complimentary beach cruisers, spa, free 45-minute photo session, scuba clinics, free ukulele and hula classes, and a few of the restaurants. The hotel along with all of the amenities also has a team of concierges available to help you book activities off the property as well! We did not use their services during our stay, but we have had good experiences with Hilton brand concierge teams in the past!
We did try Humuhumunukunukuapuaa for dinner and had a pretty good time. You need a reservation, and as there is a dress code. It is an upscale dining option,
with nice views of the ocean and the lagoon. We did not have a great view from our table, and it was slow when we visited. The food was good, but it was expensive! The seafood was better than the chicken, as seafood is their specialty. For the price, you might find better elsewhere on the island! Since our visit, they have since re-done the bar and the counter is now an active aquarium. So if dinner is a little out of your budget consider stopping by to get a drink and check out the cool new aquarium!
Check-out:
Check-out in the morning was smooth! One of the great things about this location is the standard check-out time for each guest is 12:00 PM. As lots of flights leave later in the evening, we enjoyed being able to take our time during check-out. We left the keys in the room and called the valet team before leaving. Our car was ready by the time we walked to the front of the hotel. We had no issues with leaving the keys in the room and received our final receipt via email later in the day.
Summary:
For a crazy low price of $65, we stayed one night at Waldorf Astorias Grand Wailea Resort on Maui, thanks to a free weekend night reward! Our trip could have been completely free but we chose to rent a car so we had to pay $65 for valet parking at the resort! We got upgraded to a double ocean-view room for our stay and had an amazing view of the chapel and the ocean behind it. The resort offers an expansive range of amenities from a lazy river to exercise classes. We enjoyed the pools and the luxury feel of the room, but would pass on eating on site! With so many different things to do at this resort, there is something for everyone! Do you think that a stay at the Grand Wailea is worth your wallet? Let us know below!
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